By Allison Manning
The Columbus Dispatch
DELAWARE, Ohio — Delaware County’s 911 and communications operations center won’t have extra money to work with next year, after voters defeated a countywide levy yesterday.
With 75 percent of precincts counted, 57 percent of voters were rejecting the 0.62-mill property tax.
It would have brought in $3.47 million each year for five years. The current 0.45-mill levy will continue through the end of next year.
The extra revenue would have allowed the county to pay for some one-time expenditures next year and add to a reserve fund that will be needed in 2014 to upgrade emergency radios countywide.
Bob Greenlaw, director of the 911 and communications center, said he expects that the county will try again in November.
“Obviously I’m disappointed,” he said last night. “We were trying to keep our technology current and keep our staff up to speed.”
The new levy would have cost homeowners $19 annually per $100,000 of home value, while the current 0.45-mill tax costs them $14 per $100,000 of valuation.
The new, higher levy would have allowed the dispatching center to be self-sufficient, with no money needed from the county general fund. The current 911 operations budget is $3.3 million.
The county had not asked for an increase since 2006, when the levy was increased from 0.31 mill to the current 0.45 mill.
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